ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- The wife of a retired school teacher accused of raping a student was arrested after she allegedly sent threatening letters to the friends and family of the victim.

Marsha Merry, 61, was charged with tampering with a victim and harassment after police say she threatened to beat and shame the young woman in the letters.

In a probable cause statement, the investigator wrote that Marsha Merry threatened to bash the victim to a pulp and “break that low-life b**** down”. Merry is accused of sending photographs that belonged to Allen Merry, 72, who’s accused of taking photos of the victim while the abuse occurred.

Allen Merry, who taught at the Central Visual and Performing Arts Academy in south St. Louis was charged in February with 18 crimes involving the rape and exploitation of a 15-year-old student.

Marsha Merry is also accused of threatening to send photos to members of the victim’s church.

“Being able to, in some way, say that other people are going to understand what’s been going on, people will look at you, and they’ll blame you,” said Dr. Jerry Dunn, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis on the UMSL campus. “Those are pretty classic features of the way a perpetrator tries to keep a victim quiet.”

Dunn says the latest charges can serve as an example of how the system can work to protect a victim.

“They have found this out, this has been disclosed, and the system is now again moving forward and doing what’s necessary to protect this victim.”